When the 53rd Kerala State Film Awards were announced on Friday, it wasn't a big surprise when Mammootty got named the Best Actor. The veteran won the award for his stellar performance in Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (NPN). It is his sixth Best Actor award after bagging the honour in 1984, 1989, 1993, 2004, and 2009. With this win, he equalled the tally of his contemporary Mohanlal, who has also won the award six times. However, Mammootty has earned the rare distinction of becoming the first to win the Best Actor award in four different decades.

Though Mammootty couldn't win the coveted award after 2009, he came agonisingly close on several occasions before losing out. This year, with four terrific performances (Bheeshma Parvam, NPN, Puzhu, Rorschach), he was always a strong contender. Others in contention were Kunchacko Boban (Nna Thaan Case Kodu) and Alencier Ley Lopez (Appan), who were eventually honoured with Special Jury awards.

Mammootty is currently shooting for Bazooka, directed by Deeno Dennis. He also has Jeo Baby's Kaathal and Roby Varghese Raj's Kannur Squad in different stages of post-production.